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HISTORY

By the reign of Darius I of Persia (522-486BC) the Persian Empire was colossal stretching from Asia Minor and Thrace in the west, to India in the east. In the province of Ionia in western Asia Minor, Greeks were subjected by the Persians since the reign of Cyrus the Great. The ruler of the city of Miletus, Aristagoras decided to rebel against Darius and Persian rule. He led an army on a rampage throughout the coast of the Aegean, attacking the major Persian naval bases. Soon however Darius began to prepare an army to strike back against the Greek rebellion>>>

YALDA

While Christians around the world are preparing to celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25th, the Persians are set to tribute one of their most festive celebrations on Dec. 21st, the eve of winter solstice, the longest night and shortest day of the year. In Iran this night is called SHAB-E YALDAA, also known as SHAB-E CHELLEH, which refers to the birthday or rebirth of the sun. In the East more than in the West, lifestyles have often remained more in tune with nature>>>

HERITAGE

Under Omar Fars was captured by the Arabs, the Persians quickly gave in to the power of the Arab armies.Rashidun Empire stretched from West Africa to Central Asia. Fars became one of the major provinces of Rashidun Empire and cross roads between Central Asia and the Mediterranean. Fars contained vast industry just as it had during the Sassanian and Parthian eras. Uthman ibn Affan (579 –656) created the first Islamic navy and hired Persian marines, he also hired mercenaries from Iran namely the tough knight style “cataphracts” and professional infantry forces drawn from two provinces of Iran, Khorasan and Fars>>>

IDEAS

In the dusk of the twentieth century, a mystical and quietist religion changed into a politico-revolutionary ideology that shook the world. How was this transformation brought about? Who were the men who transformed the faith into a weapon? What does the future hold for revolutionary Shiʿism? Martyrology and Messianism, the two main pillars of Shiʿism, can be traced back to two transformative events in the history of Islam: the killing of the Third Imam and the occultation of the Twelfth Imam>>>

HERITAGE

The southern province of Fars is generally hot and humid with mountains and lakes. Sub-tropical forests cover the southern strip of the province which causes agriculture and wildlife to flourish. There are three distinct climatic regions in the Fars Province. First, the mountainous area of the north and northwest with moderate cold winters and mild summers secondly, the central region, with relatively rainy mild winters, and hot dry summers>>>

HERITAGE

During the 1960s and 70s, before any of the Marg bar Amrika (Death to America) banners of Iran's religious right, and before the bastardized quasi-soviet housing projects that mushroomed all over Iran's landscape, there existed a healthy balance of architectural exchanges between Iran and the United States, many of which resulted in some familiar landmark sites, facilities, and buildings, still seen today in Iran. The builders of some of these buildings in Iran are of international stature in recent architectural history. They most certainly deserve a mention>>>

HERITAGE

The Immortal (Anûšiya or Anauša) were an elite regiment of hand picked men trained from childhood into elite warriors; they were the imperial guard of the Achaemenid Shahs. According to Herodotus of Halicarnassus the reason why they were called the immortals was because “it was invariably kept up to strength; if a man was killed or fell sick, the vacancy he left was at once filled, so that the total strength of the corps was never less -and never more- than ten thousand.” Surviving Achaemenid colored glazed bricks and carved reliefs represent the Immortals as wearing elaborate robes and gold jewelry>>>

IRAN - USA

We've all heard that the reason Khomeini first planted the seeds of hatred against the USA, demonizing it for all eternity by his followers, has been its support of Israel, and "capitulation rights". But did you know that Americans in Iran were subject to harassment and even murder, well before any Ajax operation, and well before Khomeini was even born? And this is while Americans were trying to help Persia. Do you know who the first Americans murdered in Iran was? >>>

DOCUMENT

During my visit to Tehran in the summer of 1999, Iraj Afshar showed me a series of letters between the great Iranist, W.B. Henning and the Iranian scholar and statesman S.H. Taqizadeh. He asked me what can be done with these letters and whether they were important enough to be published. After looking through the correspondences I realized that they are important as they shed light on a discipline that I was educated in. While there are many stories circulating about the great Iranists and Orientalists, very little has been done on the history of the discipline and the role of those involved in the progress of Iranian Studies>>>